Jesus, you folks ready for the newest eatery scheduled to take shape at Sparkman Wharf? It's called BT in a Box. In case you've forgotten about Sparkman Wharf since, seriously, this morning, the reimagined, mixed-use development in Tampa's Channel District expects to open in fall, replacing Channelside Bay Plaza.
Regionites who enjoy eating out around town, chances are, are familiar with BT Nguyen. The notable chef and restaurateur — whose love of cooking began in her family's kitchen in Vietnam, where she was born — is no stranger to Tampa, which is home to her trio of dining spots: Restaurant BT, BT to Go and Bistro BT.
Nguyen will soon add another restaurant to her "three-pronged empire of excellence," as CL Food Critic Jon Palmer Claridge once described it, with BT in a Box.
"From the beginning, it was clear that Sparkman Wharf was extremely well thought out and offered an exciting new dimension to our downtown waterfront. It signifies great confidence in Tampa's future, and I view this as a true investment in the community we love," Nguyen said in a statement.
Housed inside a repurposed shipping container in the Sparkman Wharf dining garden (like the other previously announced concepts), BT in a Box plans to serve on-the-go small plates that spotlight popular French-Vietnamese dishes from her other restaurants. The place will also incorporate meat and poultry sourced from small farms, organic ingredients, fresh wild-caught seafood and produce grown locally.
For the uninitiated, Sparkman Wharf — part of the larger Water Street Tampa neighborhood — is essentially what happens when a dining garden, biergarten known as Fermented Reality and recreational lawn come together on the waterfront.
This article appears in Aug 9-16, 2018.